


ends of the earth

by dearzoemurphy



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Ending, Episode: s06e13 Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television, F/M, Series Finale, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:19:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23840644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: After Jeff leaves their celebration unexpectedly, Britta knows exactly where to find him.What-if/alternate ending for Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television where Britta follows Jeff to the study room instead of Annie.
Relationships: Britta Perry/Jeff Winger, Jeff Winger & the Study Group
Comments: 9
Kudos: 48





	ends of the earth

**Author's Note:**

> I rewatched the finale last night, had a lot of feelings, than hammered this out in about an hour.
> 
> title from the song that plays over the final scenes, based on a prompt from an anon on tumblr (paradigmsofbrittaperry, follow me there if you want to see how much of a loser I actually am!).

Jeff stood alone in the study room. He was looking over the table as he never had before, full of emotions that he had never let himself feel before. He didn’t want Annie and Abed to leave. He didn’t want things to keep changing so drastically. He wanted the universe to show that it cared about him, that he didn’t have to lose everything and everyone he ever loved. 

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from behind him. He turned around and was greeted by the sight of a concerned Britta. 

“Hey. You left rather…suddenly,” she said. 

“How did you get in here?”

“Annie holds the spare keys. The Dean said otherwise, he’d leave them under the welcome mat,” she replied with a chuckle, “I just borrowed them to come check on you.”

Jeff smiled. “Of course. You knew I’d be in here?”

“Of course. You’re rather predictable,” Britta said jokingly. 

Jeff looked down to the ground. “I wish I wasn’t.”

Britta took a few steps towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. It’s okay to be predictable. It’s okay to be older. And it’s okay to be sad about those things as you watch your friends leave.”

He looked up to meet her gaze, tears shining in his eyes. “I’d give almost anything to be like them. Only 25, heading out into the world. I want to fall asleep on a beach and be able to walk the next day. Or stay up all night on accident. I wanna wear a white t-shirt without looking like I forgot to get dressed. I wanna have an opinion about those…” he stopped and glanced right then left, “boring ass Marvel movies. And I want those opinions to be of any concern to the people making them.”

“But you’ve already been there,” Britta observed. 

“What do you mean?”

“You faked credentials and threw yourself head first into the world of law. You spent your prime years locking up bad guys or letting them roam free and doing tequila shots on yachts with models or…something like that, I assume. You already got the crazy years of young adulthood that Annie and Abed are just now starting!”

Jeff paused to consider. “I guess you’re right. But I spent all those years pretending to be someone that I’m not, to myself and everyone else. It doesn’t feel like they counted.

Britta reached to take both of Jeff’s hands in hers. “So make new memories. You can have a do-over with me and Craig and everyone else that’s still around. Let’s fall asleep on a beach and deal with a crick in our neck the next day. Let’s stay up all night and sleep the whole next day. Wear a fucking white t-shirt if you want to. Angrily tweet at the creators of those…” she glanced to her right then left, “formulaic, bland, and uninteresting Marvel movies.”

“They’re  _ so _ not a big deal!” Jeff exclaimed. 

“They only exist to fulfill male power fantasies and enforce harmful stereotypes! Plus, think of all the body image issues this generation of young boys is going to have!” Britta added. 

They each laughed for a moment, Britta releasing her grip on his hands. He looked down at her sadly, moving to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. 

“Do you ever think about the fact that we’ve tried to get married on three separate occasions?”

“I guess so? I’ve never put much thought into it,” she admitted. 

“Three different times. In three wildly different circumstances. Amid all of the change, personal and otherwise, that I’ve been through over the last six years, you’re the only constant,” Jeff said. 

Britta glanced up with a slightly dazed look on her face. “What are you saying?”

“I think I should have married you at the end of last year. I had it right then. You’re arguably my best friend, and have been for quite some time. I like spending time with you. I choose to have you around. I can’t say that for many other people.”

“That’s a rather low bar for me to stumble over,” she joked. 

Jeff wasn’t sure how to convey what he was feeling, overwhelmed by the sudden rush of emotion. “I like the idea of living out my fantasy young adulthood with you. And Craig and Chang and Frankie, of course, but mostly with you. Maybe it’s still just because I don’t like change, but I don’t want to imagine a season seven without you in it.”

Britta smiled broadly. “I can’t imagine a season seven without you,” she said softly. Each of them was taking small, nearly imperceptible steps closer together. 

“Remember that you even coming to Greendale in the first place was because of change. You can find ways to like change. Even changes like these,” she said.

“I guess so,” he said. They looked at one another in the soft light, as if for the first time.

“Do you think we should have tried dating for real?” Jeff asked suddenly. 

“Nah. We would have found some way to mess it up,” Britta said with a wave of her hand. 

“Yeah. We probably would have.”

The pair stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to do next. However, Britta’s phone buzzed before either of them could make a decision. 

“Oh. The others are coming. They just parked,” she said after reading the texts. 

“Oh.”

It only took another moment of gazing at each other before Jeff moved forward and enveloped Britta in an embrace, drawing her close so that he could kiss her. Lips met as arms tangled around waists and in hair. Britta put her hands on either side of Jeff’s face, firmly holding him in place. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and let the other wander down her back, pressing the two of them together. 

It was over almost as quickly as it had happened, the two falling apart naturally. They were like a river that diverged and came back together, always certain of their motions even if they weren’t certain when they would find each other again. Britta opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the rest of their friends crashing through the library entrance. 

“Whoo! Are we interrupting?” Chang asked jovially.

“Oh, knock it off!” Annie said, swatting him on the arm.

Britta and Jeff smiled softly at one another before turning to look at their friends. She moved slightly so that she was among the group, facing him.

“No, you’re not interrupting anything. I’m glad you all are here,” Jeff said.

“Are you guys doing an unauthorized finale in here? If so, not cool,” Abed cut in.

“Abed, I know it gives you comfort to see everything through that meta lens, but we were just saying goodbye to the room,” Jeff replied, turning back to look at the table again.

“At least for season six. Season seven’s gonna be one wild ride,” Britta said. She met Jeff’s gaze and smiled slyly. He smiled back.

“Cool. Cool, cool. Cool, cool. Cool. That was one cool for each season.”

“Wait, do it again, I wanna try something,” Chang requested.

“Nah, the moment’s over,” Abed replied.

Jeff felt more content than he had in a long time. He was okay with Annie and Abed leaving, because it meant that they could start experiencing life the way he had at their age, but hopefully not take it for granted. He was okay with getting older, because it only meant that he had lived more. He was okay with letting season seven take its course and leave him wherever it wanted to.

“I’m gonna miss you guys,” was all he could manage to say at the moment.

“You know what I think, as a humble outsider that came in and nailed it? I think everyone should imagine their own personal version of season seven and not share it with anyone. Maybe it’ll come true,” Frankie suggested.

“No cutting to any of them. If you cut to it, it won’t come true,” Abed said.

The group all nodded and thought for a moment before closing their eyes. Jeff looked over them. The Dean, then a content-looking Annie, then Frankie, then a grinning Abed, then Chang, and then Britta. His gaze lingered on her for a moment, eyes closed and smiling happily before he took a deep breath and let his eyelids drift shut.

He was in the yard behind his apartment complex, a water balloon in his hand. He and Britta were running around and trying to pelt each other like children. Frankie stood over the grill, tending to hot dogs and hamburgers. She watched the two with reluctant amusement, shaking her head at their antics. The Dean wore a large floppy sun hat and was reclining in a lawn chair next to Chang, who was talking his ear off about what would happen in his ideal Iron Man 4 movie. It was blissful. It was simple. It was somehow both a childish and mature fantasy, where Jeff was trying to capture the essence of years he had lost while also being okay with change. Being okay with holding onto people for as long as he could and letting them go when he had to. 

He opened his eyes to see all of his friends looking at him expectantly, each appearing to be battling their own waves of emotion.

“I love that I got to be with you guys,” Jeff started breathlessly.

“Gay!” Chang exclaimed.

“You saved my life, and changed it forever.”

“Gay!”

Jeff smirked and stepped forward. “Thank you.”

He reached around to hug Chang, and was quickly enveloped in a group hug. Chang’s arms around his waist, Annie’s head on his shoulder, one hand on Abed’s back, the Dean’s hand resting on his upper arm, nearly touching foreheads with Frankie. Britta nestled right into his side, arm snaking around to rest on one of Chang’s. It felt like the perfect finale for season six, everyone happy and content despite the changes that were coming. Holding each other, knowing that no one would ever truly be gone. 

Jeff couldn’t wait to see what season seven would bring.

**Author's Note:**

> ngl writing this somewhat drained me, but in a good way. with all of my classes being cancelled, it's uncertain if I'll ever be in the same room at the same time with all of the people from high school that matter to me. I got the group hugs and touching moments with other band members when the marching season ended, I even gave a Jeff speech there, but I wasn't prepared to get the rest of my time with those people cut so short. part of this was cathartic, because I would give the world just to ensure that I get to hold everyone one more time. 
> 
> I hope that you all enjoyed, leave anything you want to leave in the comments, all that jazz. I'm probably gonna go take a nap and then call my best friend, I hope you all are able to do the same. <3


End file.
